Personal Encounters: Philippine Culture and Tradition: Exotic Food at Balaw Balaw Restaurant and Folk Art Gallery

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. I got up excited from the previous night's deep slumber. I had a good restful sleep and it's time to play! Me and my BFF lined up our activities for our Who-Needs-Rest-on-a-Rest-Day-Kinda-Day?" Definitely not me, I just had an overload and that sunny Sunday was absolutely an "Angono Kind of Day!"

Angono, one of the first class municipalities in the province of Rizal, Philippines is boasted as the "Arts Capital" of the country. I'm not a native of the province but having stayed for more than a decade in this part of the country, I identify with its culture, tradition and people. I am therefore proud that one of its municipalities earned the said title. The oldest known art in the Philippines, the Angono Petroglyphics dating back to some 3000 B.C. could be found along the boundaries of Antipolo, Binagonan and Angono. There, engraved on the rock walls, are around 127 human and animal figures. By virtue of Presidential Decree No. 260, it was declared as a national cultural treasure by the Philippine government in 1973 (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizal)

The home town of two National Artists, Lucio San Pedro for music and Carlos "Botong" Francisco for arts, Angono houses many art galleries owned by local families. One of the most famous ones is the Balaw Balaw Restaurant and Folk Art Gallery.

I have heard and read many reviews mostly about the exotic food that the place offers and I made a mental note to visit. Exotic is fascinating, food included. Check my previous blog about it, read HERE. The open art gallery however, is equally intriguing as the exotic food that the popular place showcases. I will separately blog about the beautiful paintings and sculptures by no less than the restaurant owner himself, the late Perdigon Vocalan.

The facade of the restaurant was not imposing nor intimidating. It actually looked welcoming. The diners seemed to be regulars and most came in with their families. I even noticed the children on a nearby table placing their orders without looking at the menu. Some kids were busy playing the Chopsticks on the piano creating a really homey Sunday mood, it was some sort of a family get-together feel.The staff were very accommodating. The waiter who served us made extra effort to give the details of the House's Specialties.

The welcoming facade

Indoor feels homey!

We scrutinized the menu like some unknown bug... and yes we were actually looking for it as we wanted to set the meal's tone to bizarre! After all, that was what we came for.

For starters, we were offered the Uok instead of beetles... these are larvae of coconut rhinoceros beetles that fester on the sap of coconut trees leaving them to rot! Considered as invasive and destructive pests to coconut and oil palm plantations, the beetles' fat and eerie "babies" are originally a delicacy of the native Mangyans, one of the eight indigenous peoples found in the Island of Mindoro and the taste for it reached the Province of Rizal! The Uok in fairness, is clean and a good source of protein, some even eat it raw and alive!

Uh oh, it's UOK!

But alas, it was not Uok that we ordered but the Hantik! These are huge, nasty, red ants! Even Pinoy Movies had these insects portray as villains where the protagonist was tied up to a tree to be bitten by the same creepy crawlers. The texture tickled the tongue at first, probably because of the insects' long legs or its itchy repute LOL! It was crisp and sour, it tasted like green mangoes! No wonder, the Hantiks were actually gathered from these trees according to one of the staff.

Braving the Odd

Hantik (Red Ants)

For the soup, we were offered the Soup No. 5, indeed a "Lou Vega Mambo Number 5 Kinda Soup!" Just imagine the butt and balls of cows floating in soup... yep, too much! So, instead we opted for the Sinabawang Balut (Duck embryos in broth). It looked liked eyeballs floating... more tolerable haha! It was cooked in beef broth with chunks of beef, cabbage and corn mixed in. It tasted like Nilagang Baka (Beef Stew) with a twist.

BFF fishing for eyeballs!

Balut in Soup! (Ducks Embryo in Soup)

The Balut Soup cooked in beef broth mixed in with beef, cabbage and corn.

The place also offers a variety of cooked rice, I initially wanted to order the Pink Rice sauteed in garlic and the famous Balaw Balaw Sauce simply because... I like the color! The Balaw Balaw is a dipping sauce made from small shrimps mixed with rice gruel and “angkak”, an herb that gives its reddish color. The mixture is preserved and fermented in earthen jar for 3 days. After this, Balaw Balaw is ready to eat as is or sauteed with young bamboo shoots. The sauce is generously served with the dishes for free so instead we chose the House Specialty, the Balaw Balaw Rice. It looked like Java Rice with its yellow coloring mixed with sea food and chorizo de bilbao (a flavorful sausage).

The Balaw Balaw Dipping Sauce

The Balaw Balaw Rice

For the main dish, we wanted the frog! The waiter however said it is a seasonal dish. It's summertime... so that should be the rainy season when the frogs croak after all, we only have 2 seasons LOL! I was really getting adventurous so I asked for the Bayawak (monitor lizard) but was informed that it is prohibited by law under RA 9147 to serve Bayawak as food because it made the "Red List" as one of the endangered species. Read HERE. Hmnn... Adobong Itik sa Gata then! These are ducklings sauteed and stewed in soy sauce and vinegar then simmered in coconut milk. Writing about our food adventure now made me realize we ordered for either the new born or the unborn.... don't we just like 'em young and fresh? hahaha!

Adobong Itik sa Gata

For her drink, BFF wanted the Gayuma Concoction (Love Potion) as if she would need it. Too bad it was not available at the time so she ordered for the Balaw Balaw Punch, an alcoholic beverage with vodka that tasted like the Apat na Panahon (Four Seasons), yep I took a sip too hehe. The punch was strong enough to turn my BFF's face ruddy. For me, I had my creamy and refreshing Guinumis (Gelatin, tapioca pearls and pinipig in creamy coconut milk with crushed ice).

Balaw Balaw Punch

Guinumis

Kain Na! (Let's eat!)

We held ordering for dessert until we had our full meal and as expected, there was no more room for it. After the sumptuous meal, we headed for the Art Gallery! The painting, sculpture and paper mache collection were impressive! We took our sweet time appreciating its beauty and taking pictures too! The Perdigons were so generous to display artwork masterpieces for free! It was an awesome sight. Many of his paintings and sculptures depicted Filipino inspired folk lore stories of enkatada at enkanto, sirena, anito (Fairies, mermaids, nature deities) and the likes. It was noticeable too that he liked the female form with his nudes. He also had many mother and child pieces and of course, the Higantes! Below are some of my favorite artworks of his.

Lifesize Sculpture

The Higantes. It was said that the higantes started during the Spanish colonial times, when Angono was once a hacienda and ruled by Spanish hacienderos. The Angono land tillers way of protesting their struggle is by making giant effigy of their landlords whose hands are usually high up on their waist. The body of the traditional higante are made of bamboo and colorful cloth and its faces of paper mache. The three old higantes of Angono consists of the family of giants – the father, mother and child higante, they traditionally add color and fun during the fiesta celebration. It was in the late 80s when the late Angono artist Perdigon Vocalan brought the idea of the Higantes Festival by going out of the traditional family of giants and advocating having more higantes in the fiesta by coordinating with the barangays of Angono to come up with Higantes that will represent their barangay. At present, the Higantes of Angono can be seen in fiesta celebrations around the Philippines and in national cultural presentations, the major being the Centennial Parade in the Quirino Grandstand for the Philippine Centennial celebration in 1998 (Source: Wikipedia)

The Higantes in Paper Mache. You can have your own paper mache done by their house artist as souvenirs. Too bad it was his day off when we visited but I will make sure to have my own Higantes when I come back!